US TOURISM INDUSTRY ENJOYING GROWTH PERIOD

It would be fair to say that the US tourism industry has not had everything in its favour in recent history. First on the list of catastrophes comes, of course, the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001. Such a disaster would bring absolutely any country to its knees. Then we must take into consideration the war in Iraq, numerous amounts of hurricanes, new visa requirements for nationals of numerous countries and America’s generally dwindling reputation around the globe. All of these factors contributed to less people visiting the United States in the period around 2004. The biggest and most significant factor was presumed to be the fear of terrorist attacks. However, there is now good news for the Americans as figures from this year have proven that American inbound tourism is on the up. The country is in a period of huge recovery. The sustained demand and increases in internet retailing have made experts believe that there is no reason why the trend should not continue.

In the first quarter of 2007, the transportation output has remained strong and there has been an output growth of 2.3%. Prices of goods and services offered to tourists have seen a rise of 2.3% this year, quite astonishing considering the drop it experienced of 5.9% in the final quarter of last year. Air travel sales have been up at an estimated 3.1%, revenue brought in from accommodation up 2.9%. As a result of these economic boosts, the tourism industry in the United States is now estimated to be worth $616.69 billion per annum.

The relax in tourist fear of terrorist attacks, as mentioned before, has been the biggest factor in such an improvement in American tourism, yet the development of various theme parks and new amusements throughout the country have also helped. The cheap American dollar has been, naturally, an important factor for many, especially Europeans.